


The Times Are Changin'

by the-canary (siruru)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 1930s, Alternate Universe - 1940s, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bookstores, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Eventual Romance, F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Love Confessions, New York, One-Sided Attraction, Post-Captain America: The First Avenger, Post-World War II, Restaurants, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Strangers to Lovers, Time Skips, Unrequited Love, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-10-17 13:50:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20622065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siruru/pseuds/the-canary
Summary: The war was over and things were changing at a rapid pace. The two of you had done some of that as well in your years apart. (40′s!Reader/Bucky Barnes)





	1. prologue.

**Author's Note:**

> this is for @jewelofwinter ‘s writing challenge.
> 
> Prompt: Fuddy-duddy = old-fashioned person

_1945._

You weren’t sure why Rebecca Barnes was running down the block after such a grueling schedule. Like you, the young woman helped in the Navy Yard not that far from your little apartment building by scrapping metals and building parts for ships, as they were hauled away to different parts of the war where American soldiers were fighting in Europe and the Pacific. 

Your older brother had been one of those guys, like Rebecca’s brother, that had gone to fight. It might have made your father proud if he was still alive, but all it did was make your mother sick with worry and it made you the sole family provider. 

Your heavy and tired legs lead you to where all five Barnes women are standing in front of the shabby apartment building next to yours. Rebecca, in her red bandana and blue jumper, is holding and crying her mother as the younger sisters stand around them.

It could only mean one of two things. You think of James Barnes – a boy who was almost a year older and with bright blue eyes and someone who had the world at his oyster in both smarts and looks. Outside of that, there was nothing much else for you personally. 

You were about to find out that it was a completely different story on the other side of the coin. 


	2. the start of things.

_ 1939\.  _

It isn’t the first time you see him from afar and it certainly won’t be the last. Living in this tiny corner of Brooklyn makes you more susceptible to hearing and just seeing James Buchanan Barnes more than usual. You lived in the same block and had gone to the same schools for years. Your fathers had left for the Great War at the same time and your mothers shopped in the same, small shops. 

However, there was a big difference between you and James Barnes. Everything centered around the boy, while you stood in the sideline of things. James was athletic as he was smart. He could charm his way out of anything but never brag about his accomplishments. 

He was just about every girl’s dream and every mother’s hope. However, that’s where it all stopped--

“How are ya doing?” James smiles as he comes to the front of the counter. You are taken out of your inner thoughts and look at the leather bound books and colors that he had decided to pick up at the back of your family’s bookstore. 

“Fine,” you give him a simple nod and take out your own smaller notebook where you kept all the purchases of the day on record, “For Steve again?” 

James gives you a nod, “Been sick in bed for the past month. Thought this would help him pass the time.” 

“Eighty-five cents,” you remark as he hands you the coins. You proceed to wrap up book and pencils brown paper and tying it up in less than a minute. His smile grows for a second as you hand him the package. 

“I hope he gets better then. Give him my regards like always,” you add-in, really hoping that Steve got better -- you had seen how bad it got for James at times when Steve had to go to the hospital or worse when he didn’t wake up for days. You hoped he would get better for the both of them.

“I make sure he knows,” James lets out a small laugh, as he places the parcel underneath his arm and walks away. With a wave, he was out of the door and back in gloomy Brooklyn once more, where he was king as you went back to picking up the book you had been reading before James had come in. 

But, for a brief moment, your mind lingers back to him. 

You don’t know much about things, but you wonder if anyone else knew that James Buchanan Barnes only shined the brightest when it came to Steve Rogers. 

* * *

_ 1946. _

It’s a lot closer to eight than you realize, as you notice the fancy lights around the boardwalk are lit up. People were heading in to come have some fun, but your main audience had started going back home at around 6 pm. However, that wasn’t the reason you were staying behind so late today, as you placed bag after bag on the still yet to be clean counter top. 

It’s then that the back door squeaks on the wooden floor that has your head turning around to seeing a vaguely familiar man. 

“I didn’t expect ya to be so big now,” you remark at the smiling bulk of a man standing in your empty dinner, “Guess the Army really does change people.” 

Steve lets out an awkward chuckle, as you stare at him for a moment before leading him deeper into the little chic thing that you owned. To be honest, you had been expecting Rebecca or William, not Captain America to be standing outside a barely lit Brooklyn street to pick up the plates of food that you usually made for the Barnes family. However, tonight was a bit different. 

“It certainly does,” Steve remarks in a way that makes it seem that there is more to it, but you are tired to ask him any further questions. He grabs the large burlap bags filled with large servings and makes sure that everything is in order. 

You wipe down the counter once more, as blue eyes look at you: “Thank you for making all this on such short notice. Becca highly recommended anything you make.” 

“Think nothing of it,” you shrug the compliment off like its nothing, “Just my way of saying thanks is all.” 

“Well,” Steve starts, as you put the last utensils away for the night, “Would you consider joining us?”

Out of his eyesight, you frown a little. You wonder if Becca had asked him to, she tended to still have a way of asking people to do the things she wanted. You understood why Steve and her by extension might invite you to dinner, but it simply wasn’t your place. This dinner, whatever they were having, was simply for the Barnes family and those that had served with James -- to celebrate that he had finally gotten out of the hospital, from what Becca had told you. 

This wasn’t your place.

“No, I wouldn’t want to intrude,” you remark with a weary smile. Steve frowns, but he doesn’t seem all that surprised. 

“Could I...at least give you a ride back home?” Steve tests the waters out as he gives you a hopeful smile. 

“That would be most helpful,” you answer unsure of how he would manage, but Steve could manage anything -- he was Captain America after all. So, you grab your bag and walk out in the humid New York night. 

* * *

It doesn’t take that long to reach the apartment block, which has you amazed for the most part as Steve tries to explain all that he can about the vehicle he is in. Outside of that, you are mostly quiet and give him a rushed goodbye before entering the building that the Barnes lived in. That where he heads to where he finds a lively mood still going on in the cramped 1-bedroom space as the laughter of the rest of the Howling Commandos trickles into the room. 

A shorter woman with side-swept brown hair and blue eyes comes up to help him, “Oh, thank you so much, Steve!”

“Think nothing of it,” Steve states, as Becca grabs some of the bags. She looks around for a second before her smile drops. 

“I’m guessin’ she said no,” Becca frowns, as Steve nods. 

She doesn’t say anything besides that as they both make into the kitchen, only to find Bucky sitting there as if he had been waiting. He greets them with a somber nod, though both of them can tell his eyes light up at the sight of the food. 

Steve can’t help but notice that Bucky’s face and demeanor in general tends to soften after a plate or two. 


End file.
